Grenell, an outspoken Iran critic, wrote in German newspaper Bild to voice out that the incident “should be a wake-up call for anyone who supports basic human rights.”

“This is not the first time the Iranian regime has put a gay man to death with the usual outrageous claims of prostitution, kidnapping, or even pedophilia. And it sadly won’t be the last time,” he wrote.

“Barbaric public executions are all too common in a country where consensual homosexual relationships are criminalized and punishable by flogging and death.

“Politicians, the UN, democratic governments, diplomats and good people everywhere should speak up — and loudly.”

The strategy is still in its early stages and will likely include global organisations such as the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and countries were homosexuality is already legal, NBC News reported.

US LGBTIQ organisation GLAAD responded to the announcement with skepticism, tweeting, “We’d believe that the Trump administration will work to protect LGBTQ people around the world if they had not attacked LGBTQ people in the U.S. over 90 times since taking office.”

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The Human Rights Campaign also wrote on Twitter, “Donald Trump and Mike Pence have turned a blind eye to a campaign of violence and murder targeting LGBTQ people in Chechnya that has stretched on for two years.

“If this commitment is real, we have a lot of questions about their intentions and commitments, and are eager to see what proof and action will follow.”